Editor’s note: We normally don’t publish anonymous posts, but considering the sensitivity of the issue discussed in the one below, we decided it was the best route to take.

My son started kindergarten at our local school this September. When registering him for his classes, it was necessary to lie about our home language use. Being a teacher, I am well aware of what happens to children who are identified as English Language Learners (ELL). Students are often pulled out of their classes and tested repeatedly until they satisfy some requirement set by the state or the district. There is also the risk of ELL students being placed in dumbed-down English as a Second Language class or even a “slow” class. There is the misperception that students who speak another language at home are not as proficient in English and would be unable to keep up with the brighter students.

I am not advocating that classes for English Language Learners are not necessary. They can be very valuable and helpful for children who are new to the United States, but that is not the case with my children. Although our home language is not English, my children were born and raised in the United States and even attended pre-school in English. They are completely fluent in Spanish, English and German, but yet, had I been honest when registering my son for kindergarten, he would have been labeled an English Language Learner (ELL). He would be regularly pulled from his normal class to be tested on his English proficiency, and he would be tracked as an ELL student for years into his education. His placement in classes in subsequent grades would be influenced by his bilingualism.

To avoid of all this, I simply lied. I wrote that our home language was English, and until all of the myths and misperceptions surrounding the speaking of other languages are cleared up, I will continue to do so.

It is amazing how behind the United States is when it comes to foreign language education. It is absurd that the public education system often waits until the students are in high school to start learning a language, when it is often much harder for a learner. Young children have the ability to acquire language naturally without being forced to memorize vocabulary and analyze a new grammar system. More and more studies are emerging pointing to the benefits of speaking two languages.

Hopefully the recent publicity surrounding the benefits of bilingualism will change the public perception of speaking and learning another language, and the learning of other languages will become a desired skill to acquire. Maybe by then, the American school system will catch-up. Until that time, I will continue to lie about the languages we speak at home so that my children will avoid the consequences of speaking Spanish.

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I feel your same concern in our school district and plan to list my child as coming from an English speaking home. I went through the school district and saw first hand how ESL( or ELL as its now referred to) can help and hender a childs education. For children who truly are not proficient enough in English to excell in the class room it is a great help but I feel like schools are too eager to label children as ELL for either funding or just not understanding bilingualism. My cousins children were automatically marked as ELL because their father speaks Spanish even though they speaks English to the kids and the kids speak very little Spanish.

We are raising our son bilingual English/spanish and our goal is to have him fluent in both by the time he enters kindergarden.

This post shows exactly how I feel. My mistake was to put: At home we spoke English and Spanish, my daughter is at Kindergarten this year and we just received a letter from her school saying she has to take the ESL program, but she speaks very good English, she understand everything as a kid she is learning really fast. Now I am going to refuse this ESL program at the principal office because I don’t want my daughter being pulled out of her regular class .
But my question is: Is any way I can void this dilemma once for all? I have to sign refusing this program every year for my daughter? I have to lie every year in her registration? about what language we speak at home? Please give me your opinions. Thank you.

I have a strong opinion on this topic as you can possibly guess by my comments in this thread.

Basically, I would talk to your child’s teacher and principal first and find out what type of services are available. In our district, we have transitional bilingual and it’s being phased out by a Dual Language program. I would recommend that you learn more about what’s available in your District and make an informed decision.

We are trying to raise our children to be bilingual. My husband speaks English and I speak Spanish. However, as many of you might relate, it’s a huge challenge as their dominant language is English. We are fortunate enough to have a transitional bilingual program in our District. Although is not the most successful of the programs out there, it’s a great to get bilingual children to learn how to read, write and in my case speak Spanish fluently. I hope that your article does not discourage those parents who have the option to put their children in a Bilingual program due to the ELL label. In my case, my children are not qualified as ELL’s since they passed their English proficiency exam when tested at the beginning of the school year. In my opinion, anyone that has a bilingual program and refuses to take advantage of it is a fool. There is no way that I could afford a private school to teach them Spanish the way they have, not the patience to teach them at home.

My question for the author of the article would be, why would your child be considered an ELL after he/she passes the English proficiency exam? That exam, as I understand, would determine the need for ELL services, am I correct?

I guess the point that I perhaps failed to make was that some parents might read this article and automatically make a decision to lie for fear of hindering their child’s education without learning of all of the possible choices their child’s school provide. There are so many terms out there, ELL, bilingual, dual… unfortunately many parents are not aware of the differences.

As an EL teacher this is a familiar topic. I know there is a common misconception about how students qualify to receive services. What it comes down to are two factors: A) speaking another language at home (which initially flags a student to be further investigated) and B) qualifying for services based on a language assessment that shows that there English is limited. If you are confident in your students English skills, why not let an expert verify that? If a child DOES qualify, parents still have the right to deny services. At least then services could be available if issues arise as language demands increase. I know there are parents in my district who lie on applications, and it does work in that your child won’t be tested, however it also greatly limits the support your child can receive. Families who do this at the HS level often have kids who are NOT doing well academically, and there is no way we can provide support because of them denying that language might be a factor. We speak Spanish at home and I too am confident in my son’s English skills. Still, if his teachers feel he is behind his peers, I will gladly accept EL services. I know my son would be exited as soon as he has caught up.

We filled out the form and wrote in Spanish as the language used at home, and the kindergarten teacher also observed some pronoun confusion (his/her and he/she) that the ELL coordinator shared with us. When I told her that I wasn’t too concerned about him learning English because he is receiving ample input at school, but that I was curious to have him evaluated, she cautioned me that once evaluated (assuming he qualified) my son would enter the program. We would be able to refuse services but he would be tested annually. I asked her how many children qualified and she told me that most do and I asked her if there was any way to “opt out” of the testing and she said there wasn’t.

I am still trying to educate myself about parents’ rights (the annual testing), the curriculum (WIDA–and from their website it seems like just another overpriced test-oriented curriculum that distracts from real learning) and also wondering how it supports (or doesn’t) multilingualism. I share Estela’s concerns, especially since most of the ESL/ELL teachers I’ve met are monolingual and don’t seem to really understand how language develops over time. My comment for Beth comes from the informal poll that I took after posting my incredulity about the mandatory testing on facebook: most of my Spanish-speaking friends refused ESL/ELL services because they realized their children were getting pulled out of the classroom, missing classroom activities, without a clear purpose. I especially worry about this at kindergarten age. My son can communicate perfectly well (if I had any concern about this then I think ESL/ELL services would be an appropriate placement), and although he does make mistakes that English monolingual children don’t make I know that his ability to develop his English will be best supported by a rich, engaging language-rich atmosphere. His kindergarten teacher is phenomenal so I don’t see any point in submitting him to testing just to refuse services and submit him to further testing down the line.

Of course, I worry about how parents who are not confident English speakers receive this information. I bet that many feel they are doing their children a disservice by speaking their language at home and worry about their students’ academic progress I’m sure many of the ESL/ELL teachers, while well-meaning, inadvertently contribute to language loss. My cursory examination of the WIDA materials doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence, and the mandatory testing seems like a waste of resources for many children. This sounds like another consequence of NCLB…but that’s another can of worms.

I’m a librarian who experiences first hand the anxiety of parents when they have to register their kids for school. Every summer I have many families asking me the same questions, would my child be delay? Would he or she have problems adapting? I have tested this so many times, kids starting school in Sep by Dec. they are fully bilingual. Over time many of those kids refusing to speak other than English by the age or 9 or 10. Thanks to my insistence with teachers that we speak both languages at home, my own kids have adapted so well and have no problems with both languages. I think the only secret , looking at my experience, is early exposure to early literacy in both languages. I was told by a kindergarten teacher to only speak in English to my older child to avoid him from stuttering, he’s now in his 6th year of Extended French program (half French half English) He has won several prizes for public speaking/speech competition in his school district.
I hope this helps you. Pardon my English… this is not my first language…I starting learning it at age 23. Todavia aprendiendo…
Greetings from Canada.

By the way, my first language is Spanish, and my older son who is no trilingual, is now in grade 10. I have other friends who’s children are also trilingual and have succeeded in school including University.

I have a huge concern about one of my students. His first language is Spanish, but he speaks English perfectly. He also understands idiom, loves the writing process and enjoys word scrambles. He is an engaging conversationalist and an extremely hard worker. I suspect he is also G/T.
He was in bilingual classes before moving to the school in his neighborhood.
The problem is that his spelling is incomprehensible to most people.
He can answer questions in class, but he does not test well at all. His parents do not speak English, but his older sister helps him with schoolwork.
Due to state testing, his parents have been convinced to send him back to his old school for bilingual education. He does not want to leave his neighborhood school, and he is worried about forgetting how to speak English because he mostly spoke Spanish at his old school. What are your thoughts? Will be a step backwards? I am afraid that it may be, but nobody will listen to me.

This is the best site for anybody who desires to find out about this topic. You notice so much its nearly onerous to argue with you (not that I truly would want…HaHa). You undoubtedly put a brand new spin on a topic thats been wrote about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!

Hello, I have a concern with my sons education. When it was time for him to start kindergarten I filled out the language survey and wrote down that I speak Spanish in the home. I myself am bilingual but my son is not. Well the district convinced me to have him tested and now he is in a 2nd grade EL class. My son has never spoken Spanish (my fault for not teaching him) and does not understand it. He does not meet the criteria for the California ELD program. What can I do to have him pulled out from this program? As a parent donI have any rights to do so? My biggest concern is that he is being taught at a slower rate than other students. I 100% support the EDL program for the kids who really need it but my son does not. Someone please help.